Asked this question last night, and I was hoping for some more feedback
well u had 2 big answers on the other 1, but ill give you more info
Ick is a Parasite brought on by bad water conditions meaning ur water was not safe for the fish in the 1st place, ICK parasites are like Vultures they only pick on dying fish or sick vulnerable. They make the fish stress more, they latch onto the fish and suck the electrolites and energy out of the fish and get in his gills and make it hard to breath and cuz the stress their fins will Clamp (be closed) and they cant swim well and lay on the floor or dont swim, they wont eat or be happy at all and will die unless treated.
yes the ICK will go away, the salt kills them and the ICK be gone stuff does too. The color from the ICK medication will go away within hours with the Carbon, thats what it does, but thats why u dont use it while the medication kills the parasites. They fall to the ground and die.
If you want to avoid such things you can get a 3 Stage Canister filter for $ 55 that pumps 265gph on ebay. I have one. This will make sure ur water gets cleaned right and bacteria have a home, so that way u can clean the floor pebbles if they become to toxic, but u cant really now cuz u cleaned ur filter, the bacteria that eat ammonia lived in ur filter, now live in ur floor, u clean ur floor and ur tank water will turn white till they have a home to settle back into, like the floor takes about 3-5 days and 3 15% water changes. Try not to clean the floor more then once a month, ur basically making ur ammonia levels to high im guessing, and so ur fish got stressed and bam ... ICK.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com But ur doing the right thing, the only thing that i read you didnt do was u can get like a huge vase or bowl, big enough to fit ur fish, put a HIGH dosage of salt mix with the water from ur tank, add ur sickest fish infected, and let him stay in for 10 to 15 mins no more, if u see him dying u put to much salt. But a high dosage that wont kill him will kill the ICK and it will fall off after.
Wow you really have gotten some sad answers.
First, I must say that raising the temperature gradually is a good idea. This speeds up the life cycle of the parasite, and at 86 degrees it will stop reproducing. Cichlids and other tropical fish will tolerate this temperature fine if introduced to it gradually, so I recommend raising your temperature up a bit more.
Adding medication is good, but moving your carbon cartridges into another tank was a BAD idea! The Ich parasite has a free swimming stage, and chances are, you have now introduced a small amount of that parasite into the other tank. Leave the carbon out until you are done treating with the meds, the green color will disappear with water changes and the addition of carbon.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
The spots will disappear with no scarring, but don't stop treating your tank for at least one week after this. The disappearance of spots does not mean the parasite is completely eradicated, so treat a little longer to ensure it's been killed off.
Also, do lots of water changes to keep your fish's immune systems happy and to remove some of the free swimming tomites (parasites) that live in the gravel and water. Keeping the lights off will also help, since the free swimming tomites are attracted to light sources.
